


the devil you know

by evanlinge



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Episode Related, F/M, Gen, Season/Series 05, Various Episode References, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-25
Updated: 2014-01-25
Packaged: 2018-01-10 00:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1152572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evanlinge/pseuds/evanlinge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Damon kisses her like he's tasting her soul; a hungry press of open mouths and the quick bite of sharp teeth. He kisses her like he loves her–– or he's leaving her. Some days Elena can't tell which.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the devil you know

 

There are things that Elena doesn't tell Damon–– she doesn't tell him that she dreamt of Stefan drowning over and over, every night. She doesn't tell Damon that the pit of dread widened in her stomach every time they took care not to speak his name too guiltily. She doesn't tell Damon that the sire bond is a torn thread in her psyche, and she sometimes tastes Damon's blood at the back of her throat.

 

She _does_ tell Damon about the terrible( _true_ ) things Caroline accuses him of. He smiles at her, sharp white teeth gleaming against soft pink lips. _You know what Caroline is like_ , he says. _You know I turned her too_ , he says. _She knows me, you know,_ he doesn't say.

 

Sometimes its easy to forget that Damon doesn't do it for justice or love. Sometimes it's easy to forget that death is entertainment to him. It's all too easy these days, to justify his actions – _you were tortured for years_ , and to let his disarming smile charm her into ignoring the taste of blood in his mouth, the sharpness of his anger.

 

 _Your excuses for him are flimsy at best_ , Caroline tells her. Elena doesn't think she has room to talk. Not with Klaus' shadow stretching across states to reach her. Stefan, she knows, has long since stopped making excuses for his brother. _I love him_ , he says, truth made heart-stoppingly simple.

 

 _I'm dangerous_ , Damon says, _I'll ruin you if you get close_ , he says. She doesn't think he's lying. The look Stefan levels at her is proof enough.

 

There are countless things Elena loves about Damon–– the lighting-quick curve of his smile, the way he begs her to run far far away from him, with his eyes when he can't bring himself to do it with his words. There are countless things Elena hates about Damon–– the way she looks at Damon and sees Katherine staring back, her fingerprints in the way he kills and tortures as easily as Elena breathes( _used to breathe_ ).

 

Stefan says, _he's easy to love_. He's delusional, Elena thinks, because Damon is quite possibly the furthest thing from easy to love. He's difficult and temperamental and viciously dangerous. He's prone to bad decisions and damaging emotional choices, and he _hurts_ the people around him with a violence that must be intentional.

 

And she sees it–– Stefan's mouth unwillingly curving upwards into a grin, even as Damon tears out some newbie-vampire college student's throat, offering nothing more than a glib remark. _He's impossible to quit_ , is what Stefan really means. Elena pauses when the tension in Damon's figure smooths out and he casually brushes his shoulder against Stefan's. _Safe_ , the gesture proclaims, _relaxed and rational_ , it says.

 

If it's a warning, Elena isn't sure who it's intended for.


End file.
